Liz Truss warns against appeasing China in apparent attack on Lord Cameron

Liz Truss planned to officially declare China a «threat»; to UK

Liz Truss said China had been «too much appeased» in apparent criticism of Lord Cameron's appointment as foreign secretary.

Former prime minister spoke of UK approach Beijing was driven by «short-term business interests» rather than national security.

She added that ministers were «deceiving themselves» if they believed President Xi Jinping favored liberal Western democracies.

“If we continue to do deals with China, if we continue to export more to China and get more Chinese investment into the UK, that will eventually become a lever that can be used against us,” she told students in Oxford.

“And President Xi does not want a world in which freedom and democracy prevail.”

Ms Truss made the remarks, first reported by Politico, at a meeting of the Oxford University Conservative Association on November 24.< /p>

Lord Cameron, who as prime minister heralded a «golden era» in UK-China relations , had been appointed foreign secretary 10 days earlier.

He oversaw a period of closer ties with Beijing, which his successors in Downing Street have tried to weaken due to growing national security concerns.

It is «systemic challenge» and not «threat».

Boris Johnson has banned mobile phone company Huawei. from providing 5G infrastructure and said all its technology must be removed from the network by 2027.

Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, has tightened security measures to remove Chinese surveillance equipment such as CCTV cameras from sensitive sites.

< p>But he has also been accused of taking a softer line than Ms Truss, who, as prime minister, planned to officially declare Beijing a “threat” to Britain.

Instead, he called the country a “systemic threat.” challenge» and said the UK must work with it on global issues such as climate change.

Last week Mr Sunak defended Lord Cameron's record and said he recognized «that China today “This is not the China he dealt with.” more than ten years ago.”

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Global Investment Summit, he added: “Things have changed, and it’s right that our strategy evolves to reflect that.”